(L) Greg Joy, (C) John Ferguson Sr., (R) Sam Sullivan

(below) Milton Wong

 

Greg Joy (1956 – )

Greg Joy was born in Portland, Oregon in the United States to Canadian parents. He lived in Vancouver from age 9 to 17. At the 1976 Olympics held in Montreal, he won the silver medal in the high jump. This was the highest medal earned by Canada. For his achievement, he was proclaimed Canada’s top male athlete of 1976.

 John Ferguson Sr. (1938 – 2007)

John Ferguson Sr. was born in Vancouver. His career in hockey began as a stickboy for the Vancouver Canucks. In 1963-64, he joined the Montreal Canadiens, where he served as an ‘”enforcer” to protect team mates from aggressive players. During his playing career, he played on teams that won the Stanley Cup a total of five times. In the years following, he served as assistant coach of Team Canada (1972), was coach and manager of the New York Rangers, and later served as manager of the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey League.

Sam Sullivan (1959 – )

Sam Sullivan was born in Vancouver. At age 19, he broke his neck in a skiing accident that left him almost completely paralyzed. He overcame a seven-year struggle with depression to complete a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at Simon Fraser University. In 1993, Sam Sullivan was elected to Vancouver City Council where he served for 15 years. In 2005, he ran successfully for mayor and led the NPA to electoral majorities on City Council, and Parks Board. In 2008, he lost the NPA nomination to NPA Councillor Peter Ladner.

Sam Sullivan’s post-mayoral activities included establishing a Society to provide a “platform for thinkers and doers in Vancouver”, the “Chinook Wawa Revival” to revive use of the Chinook language, and Transcribimus, a network of volunteers dedicated to transcribing the handwritten Minutes and other documents of the City of Vancouver.

 

Milton Wong (1939 – 2011)

Born to immigrant Chinese parents, and raised in Vancouver’s Chinatown, Milton Wong graduated from the University of British Columbia, where he studied economics and political science. He went on to found M.K. Wong and Associates, a highly successful financial management firm. Milton Wong was a generous philanthropist. He supported numerous organizations including the UBC Genome Project, the YWCA, and the BC Cancer Agency, where he led efforts to raise millions of dollars for the Agency’s Research Centre. He was also instrumental in founding the Laurier Institution and the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society. In recognition of these accomplishments, Milton Wong received many tributes, including the City of Vancouver Civic Merit Award, the Order of British Columbia, and the Order of Canada.

 

 

 

(Note: the information shown here was gathered via Google searches.)